Bastion team: Downloadable games can “provide a better value to players” than retail titles

As with many new studios, Supergiant Games have opted for digital distribution with their first game, Bastion. Explaining the decision to Critical Gamer, writer and level designer Greg Kasavin emphasises the power and independence it affords the team.

“Many of us used to work on retail games. Amir, Gavin, and I met while working on the Command &Conquer franchise for Electronic Arts, and Andrew worked at Infinity Ward on Modern Warfare and its sequel. So we’ve been there before.” he says. “I’d be foolish to say it’s something I’d never want to do again under any circumstances, because once in a while there’s a truly amazing retail game that’s like nothing else out there. But we deliberately left making retail games in favor of making downloadable games because we saw more exciting opportunities here. We can work faster to make our own games, make the kinds of creative choices that would never be permissible at a large studio, and ultimately provide a better value to players out there — folks have remarked that Bastion has the quality and scope of a full retail title, but it’s available for just a fraction of the cost.”

We thoroughly agree with this sentiment, which is why we awarded Bastion a highly respectable 9/10 in our review. Kasavin went on to explain that the 2D graphics were central to development, their importance deeper than aesthetics.

“One thing we knew from the very beginning was that we wanted to make a 2D game, as we really miss the crisp and responsive feel of classic 2D games and think most of today’s 3D games still struggle to achieve that.”

The full interview, covering a range of aspects of Bastion’s development, will be published tomorrow.

Written by Luke K

He plays lots of videogames, now and again stopping to write about them. He's the editor in chief at Critical Gamer, which fools him into thinking his life has some kind of value.
He doesn't have a short temper. If you suggest otherwise, he will punch you in the face.